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Furnace Creek 508 Ripped from long thread...

Old 10-09-06, 05:51 PM
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Furnace Creek 508 Ripped from long thread...

Originally Posted by markg
BTW Furnace Creek 508 endurance race is going this weekend. Santa Clarita - California City - Death Valley - Twenty Nine Palms. 508 miles - winning rider will finish in about 27 hours!

https://www.the508.com/
https://www.the508.com/2006web/2006solosplits.html
It was fun, thinking of doing a 2 man next year. I crewed for Michael Wolfe "Flicker" on his Ti Bacchetta, some knucklehead parked a train across the road in Kelso, 1:20 delay. Michael was flying the first day, some hot foot issues were the only problem. Weather was awsome for this race, lots of fun. I recommend if you get a chance to crew to take it. Oh, and the winning rider finished in over 28. Last years winner and record holder DNF'ed this year, saw him on course, flew by him coming down Townes pass, got passed at the beginning of the next climb, only to pass him by the top, shortly after he packed it in. Kenny was the last rider I expected to see on course, and was surprised to see him out there. He did ask if he could borrow the spare bike as he was passing us, so I think he was in pain by that time.
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Old 10-09-06, 06:02 PM
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Thanks markw!

And congratulations Emily O'Brien for completing this ride on a fixed gear again!! I read her Boston-Montreal-Boston ride report on the fixed gear mailing list last month which was awesome. Can't wait for her report to come through on the 508!
The 508 has strict rules on completing this ride on a fixed gear, such as no gear ratio changes....

Last edited by roadfix; 10-10-06 at 09:41 AM.
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Old 10-09-06, 06:04 PM
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Awesome. I hope to take part in FC508 someday as a crew member when scheduling permits. Seems like an interesting experience. And perhaps someday organize a SoCal relay team.
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Old 10-09-06, 08:07 PM
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Originally Posted by markw
It was fun, thinking of doing a 2 man next year. I crewed for Michael Wolfe "Flicker" on his Ti Bacchetta, some knucklehead parked a train across the road in Kelso, 1:20 delay. Michael was flying the first day, some hot foot issues were the only problem. Weather was awsome for this race, lots of fun. I recommend if you get a chance to crew to take it. Oh, and the winning rider finished in over 28. Last years winner and record holder DNF'ed this year, saw him on course, flew by him coming down Townes pass, got passed at the beginning of the next climb, only to pass him by the top, shortly after he packed it in. Kenny was the last rider I expected to see on course, and was surprised to see him out there. He did ask if he could borrow the spare bike as he was passing us, so I think he was in pain by that time.
Kenny Sousa was coming off RAAM, and said in the pre-race interview that he had not ridden much since then, and was riding the 508 to jump-start his training. Also, his friend Paul Thomas said he went in to 508 a bit under the weather.
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Old 10-09-06, 08:21 PM
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Originally Posted by jschen
Awesome. I hope to take part in FC508 someday as a crew member when scheduling permits. Seems like an interesting experience. And perhaps someday organize a SoCal relay team.
You're not the only one.
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Old 10-09-06, 08:35 PM
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Oh and George "Red-Eye Vireo" Vargas from Nytro.com finished Solo in 42:59:52
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Old 10-09-06, 09:38 PM
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My buddy Jack Brunk and his pal Ashton participated in the two man relay, they finished 12th. Hats off to all who participated.
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Old 10-09-06, 09:40 PM
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Originally Posted by The Fixer
Thanks markw!

And congratulations Emily O'Brien for completing this ride on a fixed gear!! I read her Boston-Montreal-Boston ride report on the fixed gear mailing list last month which was awesome. Can't wait for her report to come through on the 508!
The 508 has strict rules on completing this ride on a fixed gear, such as no gear ratio changes....

I saw her this morning at the hotel. She made the cutoff, rode the whole ride with a 42x16. Not only can they not change ratios, but they can't unclip to coast downhill. Our guy hit 60ish going down Townes pass and most uprights would've been 50 give or take. But the fixie is speed regulated by gearing and how fast you can spin. On a 2000 foot descent, being clipped on a fixie could really work your legs.
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Old 10-09-06, 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by markg
Kenny Sousa was coming off RAAM, and said in the pre-race interview that he had not ridden much since then, and was riding the 508 to jump-start his training. Also, his friend Paul Thomas said he went in to 508 a bit under the weather.
I talked to him at TS 2 and he told me the same thing. Hadn't ridden since RAAM. When I saw him in the field, I figured he'd be checking out on everyone again. Saw him fly by us at the 24 mile mark probably 10-15 minutes ahead of our guy, and figured that was the last I'd see of him. We did the "cool pass" where your rider has so much speed over the other rider that the pace vehicle goes with. When I saw the Cliffbar truck coming down Townes, I knew he wasn't having a good day. He did catch us after TS2 at the base of the next major climb. Death Valley was awsome at night, no traffic, decent roads, no wind and a rider who was cruising 20+ most the time. We passed I think 7 riders on the stretch before the climb, and I think Kenny was passing them too. When he passed us at the beginning of the climb he asked if he could borrow our spare bike (my corsa) as it looked pretty comfortable about now. I figure I'll get him on a test ride, as I'm batting 2 for 2 on test rides new Bacchetta owners.
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Old 10-09-06, 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by markg
Oh and George "Red-Eye Vireo" Vargas from Nytro.com finished Solo in 42:59:52
Yes, saw him out on course, Ron Smith was his crew chief. I figured from his brevet experience he'd be finishing further up, don't have the story yet. I'm doing a coast ride century tomorrow since I'm off work and will stop in Nytro on the way back to say hi. Saw him out on course a couple times and cheered him on. That's the cool thing about races like this, everyone is cheering everyone on, helping out the competition, etc... Great sportsmanship out there. It was my 3rd event crewing, starting with Jim "Shrike" Kern for RAAM this year, then doing Race Across Oregon for John Schlitter and Tim "Werewolf" Woudenberg 2 man recumbent relay team. Jim Kern had already paid his 508 entry and was ready to go, but decided to drop after his RAAM DNF from lung problems, so we planted the seed at RAO with Michael Wolfe who was on defending 4 man RAO Speedwagon team. Whoever thinks a recumbent can't climb didn't see Michael go up some of these hills.
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Old 10-09-06, 09:54 PM
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I had three friends of mine riding this year, and a fourth friend got inducted into the 508 hall of fame. Three out of the four members of the "Mojave Green" 4x Team are club members and friends of mine (the fourth member is from somewhere in the midwest and is a friend of one of the other riders). Also Kevin "Wolverine" Walsh is a club member as well and I have the pleasure of riding with him almost every weekend.

The Mojave Green team was all 508 rookies and they still managed second place at just about 28 hours!

Kevin didn't ride this year due to another engagement...namely prime seats to see Roger Waters "Dark Side Of The Moon"... but he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as only the 3rd person to Solo finish 5 times.

I am still trying to work up to a century, these guys are riding 5 of them at once!
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Old 10-09-06, 10:02 PM
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i knew two guys this year....british red squirrel and pound puppy....bummer is that neither finished, maybe next year!!!!
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Old 10-09-06, 10:03 PM
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Yes, he was there for his induction into the hall of fame, and had quite the story. Seems it's pretty common for people to do well in 508 and then the next time they DNF. Jim Kern did the same thing, 33 hours in 2003, and then DNF'd in 2005. Kenny did the DNF this year. Couldn't ask for better weather on course. You can knock out the century, just build up to it. You could do what I did, do a 200k, a Double, then try your first Century. I'm trying to do the century a month club. HHH in August, GTL in Sept, TdP last weekend, and I'm throwing a coastal ride north 50 miles, ride back in tomorrow. If you need encouragement, hook up with these guys, they'll pull you through. TdP should've been a recovery ride, my legs were still sore from GTL the weekend before.
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Old 10-10-06, 06:54 AM
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I ran into the 508 guys on my route on saturday and got mistaken for being in the race. I made a turn to head home off the route and one of the sag vans followed me to try to tell me that I had made a wrong turn. What a tough bunch of riders.
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Old 10-10-06, 04:13 PM
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I got to ride the first 100 miles of the 508 course on the Tour of Two Forests Double this year; Santa Clarita to California City and beyond, and that is some brutal course! We had headwinds for 8 hours, and it was super DRY out there. Can't imagine doing that for 508 mi.!

Best Regs,
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Old 10-11-06, 12:25 PM
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Originally Posted by markw
Yes, saw him out on course, Ron Smith was his crew chief. I figured from his brevet experience he'd be finishing further up, don't have the story yet.
George battled stomach problems from the beginning. After a while the lack of nutrition and hydration had an effect. He pushed on through it regardless. We took a short break in Panamint Valley, a break just before the top of Townes Pass, and another one at Badwater. Oh, and we spent an hour at the Mad Greek in Baker.

The one time he showed his true form was leaving Kelso at mile 416. He made short work of the climb. That lasted until general fatigue took over.
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Old 10-11-06, 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Jaye
Also Kevin "Wolverine" Walsh is a club member as well and I have the pleasure of riding with him almost every weekend.
Kevin helped us out in that little town just after Randsburg. Our rider had a flat, and all three crew members had no experience changing tubulars. (note: this is a really bad situation) As we tried to make sense of George's instructions, Kevin came over to show us what to do. Since it took a little while to make the change, the support van Kevin was in took off with one of our crew members so they could support both riders. Once we got rolling we caught up to the other vehicle, switched crew members, and then resumed supporting George. This sort of helping out another team is just the way it is done on the 508.

On the up side I can now change a tubular tire. Not a huge deal to do, but it is best to learn and practice before it is "for real".
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Old 10-13-06, 01:23 PM
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Cool. Michael was riding tubulars also, I remounted one before the race as it showed up with the valve stem closed, the other had a slow leak during the race, so I pulled it and put the tufo latex in it. Those were my first two done on my own. Just went by what I read on the Park site, it's not hard, but it sure can be messy. I didn't let Michael know that he descended Townes (close to 60) on my first tubular until after the race.


Saw George yesterday, I guess his Moons Over My Hammy breakfast before the race didn't sit well. He'll be back.

Here's some pictures from the race.
https://flickr.com/photos/49813305@N00/
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